I've been blacksmithing as a hobby for a few years, and I have finally decided to try and do it full time. I got started because I like dwarves and I think they're cool, so I have come now to ask for a bit of help. I've been scouring through any resource I can on dwarves from all fantasy series trying to find some inspiration for a logo. So far, I've come across nothing I like and want to emulate, so I've come to ask you, /tg/.
Can you help me come up with a logo that is simple yet conveys the services of a blacksmith? I'll need it to both represent me and be a touchmark, so it has to be simple. The only thing I've come up with so far is a poorly drawn (from lack of artistic talent) anvil on a white field. Asked for opinions on it and was told it was pretty bad. Any thoughts?
This was the anvil, but like I say it's pretty bad.
>>44723425
Not too shabby. Shorten the bit in the middle and ir will look better as an insignia.
>>44723425
How about a simple hammer with a lettet above/below?
It lacks appeal.
It's not symmetrical to give people comfort, the bottom angles aren't mirrored so the image inherently feels imbalanced.
The white core also makes it so feel that it's light and gives no impression of an anvil.
It's a bad logo because it doesn't have a clear message.
Watch this guy think and work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOPA0NaeTBk
>>44723425
Fellow dwarf fan here, do a simple hammer striking it, and you're golden. I just sketched this just now on paper. Give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
>>44723425
Now I don't know much about logos, and not a lot more about smithing, but:
>A furnace, colored so it's easier to recognize
>something like >>44724431, pressed onto a metal plate to prove the point
>tongs, maybe holding an ingot, and hammer
>>44723425
Are you an alcoholic? Decades of books and vidya have taught me that all the best smiths are boozehounds.
>>44723425
> blacksmith
> likes dwarves
> needs simple logo
If you liked the LOTR films at all, the visual design for dwarves was all irregular hexagons, often cut in half, with a bit of celtic frieze design mixed in.
I'd suggest an anvil or hammer within an elongated hexagon, or even within concentric hexagons.
Perhaps consider adding a runic insignia or something similar to the mix. I recomend puting it in a square to make it look like a seal. Think like the jrrt logo
>>44723497
I've decided to scrap the anvil altogether, I think.
>>44723665
Watching now.
>>44724431
I like the idea. I think a hammer hitting a line with something like the "sparks" coming out would be interesting, so I will work on that with a sketch.
>>44724915
I only drink what I brew, but I wouldn't consider myself an alcoholic.
>>44725080
I like the idea of just straight lines and stuff making it look runic like >>44726448 says.
>>44726404
I don't make swords.
>>44724915
Call me crazy, I think it's best not to work with hot metal and heavy tools while inebirated unless you're some kind of magical creature
Then again, I'm no blacksmith so take that with a grain of salt
>>44727261
>I don't make swords.
What do you make?
>>44727261
Squares and circles around things, a simple geometric shape to tie it in.
>>44728306
Argh.
>>44727261
>I only drink what I brew.
I FUCKING KNEW WE HAVE DWARVES HERE
>>44723425
>>44727261
I actually quiet like the idea of the minimalist anvil design, although the dimensions you've used aren't great.
The sort of product you want to make should probably be reflected in your logo. If you want to make very simple, minimalist things go for a minimalist logo; if you want to make more ornate products (and I get the impression that's more up your alley) then something a bit more ornate is probably more appropriate.
The only thing other than hammers and anvils I can think of that are unmistakably involved in the smithing process would be metal implements immersed in fire, maybe try that out for a logo if you want somthing different.
>>44723425
head to >>>/gd/ .
>>44724915
>>44727645
Smiths may not drink while *working*, but get a bunch of us together, and oh god the results are painful the next morning.
(myself, Peter Johnsson, Owen Bush, Jake Powning, J. Arthur Loose, Dave Stephens, J-T Palikko and Fabrice Cognot, downing shots of schnapps out of a hollowed-out potato, because the owner of the bar in Solingen's Kirchtreppe had offered the bottle to us as a local welcome...
It got very silly. )
Incidentally, OP, I would note that you want something relatively minimalist solely as a large complex design is a bastard to stamp. Keep it simple, or use one design as a toughmark, one as a product identity. Larger the punch, and more surface area, the harder it is to stamp it into even hot metal.
>>44728402
Meadbrewer reporting in. Drinking what you make is the only way.
>>44727261
>I don't make swords.
>>44728281
>What do you make?
Money, probably.
Unlike me, who has less common sense.
Being a swordsmith is not a career to get rich at. It might be a career to stay poor at.
>>44723425
I actually like the idea of a stylized anvil myself, though others may have a point that the design may need a bit of work. You could include a hammer vertically superimposed over the anvil, and surround the entire thing with the outline a simple flame or fire.
Well OP, here's something I threw together for you. This is just a bunch of simple Illustrator shapes, but it was what came to mind when I read this thread. Normies already associate dwarves with anvils and metalworking.
>>44732817
now try one that will work as a touchmark, stamped into metal, with no colour, only a line which is darker once the top surface is polished.
>>44732851
OK, but you'll have to wait until I get off work.
>>44732907
for a general blacksmiths' work, you end up with an indent mark like this.
and if there's too much flat surface area, it wont stamp properly
>>44733253
I'd have to think about it more, but I could probably come up with some version of this that works as a stamp.
